Cro Cop: "I Haven't Signed Anything Yet"

Immediately following his UFC 99 win over Mustapha al-Turk, UFC president Dana White claimed that Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic backstabbed him and the UFC in favor of Dream. Cro Cop is finally telling his side of the story and he states that, “I haven’t signed anything yet with any organization and, as I said, I’m prepared to talk with both sides.”

White said that although they came to terms on an unprecedented one-fight deal to have Filipovic return to the Octagon, CC promised him that he would sign a three-bout extension after disposing of al-Turk.

It was reported that just moments after the fight, the Croatian abruptly snubbed White to return overseas. However, Cro Cop is singing a completely different tune.

“I have nothing to hide or to be ashamed of,” Cro Cop told Index.hr. “The thing is very simple. I know the truth and Dana knows the truth — I had a one fight deal with UFC and I fulfilled my contractual obligation. I said we’re going to sit down and talk after UFC 99.

“The thing was blown out of proportion. They know in the UFC I did my part of the deal so I don’t think we’ll have any problems.”

Apparently, White had a problem with it as he immediately professed that the former Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix champion screwed him.

“Isn’t that a dirty (expletive) thing to do?” White told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports. “He (expletive) me. The first time in the history of the company I do [a contract] over the phone. He promised me a three-fight deal and he (expletive) me.”

That same evening, Sergio Non of USA Today confirmed CC’s three-fight Dream deal with Mike Kogan, who runs the U.S. operation of Dream’s parent company, Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG).

Despite two C-level MMA honchos countering Filipovic’s claims, CC swears that nothing has been determined outside of the fact that he wants to see more action in 2009, and the possibility of using two organizations to assist him in his mission.

“The problem is I’m 35 and I’m finally healthy. The UFC is offering me a fight six months from now,” said Cro Cop. “I said even before that I want to fight three more times this year. I don’t really care if it’s in the ring or inside the Octagon. I don’t see why I can’t fight in Japan for a few fights and then return to the UFC. That is also an option.”

Cro Cop has apparently been living underneath a rock for the past few years because the UFC doesn’t share fighters with anyone. In fact, that has been made abundantly clear.